Mongolian Beef

Michael and I have really been working hard at perfecting our "Asian" cooking lately. And by that I mean, getting better at making take-out quality foods to satisfy such cravings so we don't have to order takeout so often. We LOVE any type of Asian foods and tend to crave them fairly often as they are just so darn good. I'm not gonna lie...we're pretty big fans of Panda Express. But, who needs to spend all that money when the same type of dishes can be made at home for less money and the assurance that MSG is not included?

This recipe is just one example of such a meal for a weeknight dinner. The process may seem laborious at first, but once you get the whole coat-meat-in-cornstarch-then fry-in-oil thing down, it's actually a pretty fast process and you can have a yummy dinner on your table in no time.

We really love the flavor of the beef, especially as the sauce is so simple and just requires a few ingredients mixed together beforehand. This is actually a copycat recipe for P.F. Chang's, so if you're a fan of that restaurant (and I am), then you'll be pleasantly surprised with the taste. Enjoy!

Mongolian Beef
(adapted from Six Sisters Stuff)

Ingredients:
2 tsp. vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. ginger, minced

1 tbs. garlic, minced

1/2 cup soy sauce
 (low-sodium)
1/2 cup water

3/4  cup dark brown sugar

vegetable oil, for frying (about 1 cup)

1 lb. flank steak (or steak of your choice)

1/4 cup cornstarch

Directions:

Sauce:


1. Heat 2 tsp. of vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium/low heat. 
2. Add ginger and garlic to the pan and quickly add the soy sauce and water before the garlic scorches.
 
3. Dissolve the brown sugar in the sauce. 
4. Then increase the heat to medium and boil the sauce for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce thickens.
5. Remove it from the heat and set aside.

Beef:


1. Slice the steak against the grain into bite-size pieces and dip into cornstarch to apply a very thin dusting to all sides. Let the beef sit for about 10 minutes so that the cornstarch sticks.  
2. As the beef sits, heat up one cup of oil in a wok or deep skillet (you want the beef to be mostly covered with oil). Heat the oil over medium heat until it's nice and hot, but not smoking. 
3. Add the beef to the oil and sauté until brown. Stir the meat around a little so that it cooks evenly.
4. Remove beef from skillet and place onto paper towel lined plate.  Dab excess oil off meat with  the paper towel and add to medium saucepan with the sauce in it.  
5. Put the pan back on the oven over medium/low heat and let sauce simmer until warm. Serve over rice.

Notes
- We really prefer low-sodium soy sauce in this recipe as it is just too salty when made with the regular soy sauce.
- You can top the finished beef with sliced green onions, for some extra flavor and color.